Napoleon's Wars by Charles Esdaile An International History, 1803-1815

A glorious?and conclusive?chronicle of the wars waged by one of the most polarizing figures in military history

Acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic as a new standard on the subject, this sweeping, boldly written history of the Napoleonic era reveals its central protagonist as a man driven by an insatiable desire for fame, and determined ?to push matters to extremes.? More than a myth-busting portrait of Napoleon, however, it offers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts that spread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countries as remote as Sweden and Egypt. As it expertly moves through conflicts from Russia to Spain, Napoleon?s Wars proves to be history writing equal to its subject?grand and ambitious?that will reframe the way this tumultuous era is understood.

CHARLES ESDAILE is one of Britain's foremost Napoleonic historians. He is professor in history at the University of Liverpool and the author of The Peninsular War: A New History and Spain in the Liberal Age, among other books. He lives near Formby, England.

Kirkus Reviews

Recounting events from Britain’s declaration of war on France in 1803 to Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and the dissolution of much of the French colonial empire, the author takes pains to explain how the rulers of Austria, Russia, Sweden and other countries acted in their own right and not simply...